The Trader
by LuminaCarina
Summary: What happens when the one dying is the Master of Death?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**I guess I was feeling morbid when I wrote this, but it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.**

It was time.

His eyes were burning, and there was a horrible suffocating feeling in his lungs. It was the same pain he had been dealing with for a while now, but somehow it felt different, stronger.

He didn't have much left, the time has come.

He let his eyes drift away from the blurred figure of his weeping daughter, not caring about her sorrow anymore, and focused on the presence that had been haunting him his entire life. It had always been there, in his heart, but it had become so much more tangible in the last few months.

A soft giggle filled his ears, sounding comforting despite its undercurrent of mockery.

''Hello, Master.''

It was a sweet, high voice, like that of a little girl, but he could hear the hum of age in it. It was also an ancient voice, horrible and twisted, but so, so loving. He caught it in a vicious grip only the dying have, and held onto it with all the desperation of a child.

''Death,'' he rasped out, ignoring Lily's gasp of surprise.

Death laughed again, and he was unsure if it was laughing at him or with him. His lips still twitched though. Who knew that Death was so joyful, and all that happiness was contagious, rather like the illness he was dying from.

''Are you he-ere to ta-take me?''

He sounded pitiful even to his own ears, and he hated the disgusting weakness that was driving him out of his body.

''Yes,'' it whispered, ''but only if you want me to.''

Well that was new.

''I can liv-ve?''

Suddenly, a little bird was there next to him, its feathers shiny and its beak sharp and deadly.

''You can live,'' it agreed, ''but you have to make a bargain with me first. It wouldn't do for me to just give away my payment.''

He frowned, and immediately Lily started sobbing again, sure that her father was passing away in a horrifically painful way.

''Don't you know Master?'' it cooed, ''I sold you your life a long time ago, and you promised in return you would let me take you when your time came. The time has come, but we can make another bargain. Your life for something you value, how does that sound?''

''Wh-what do you want-t? So-someone-e else's so-oul?''

It laughed once more, but it was an ear-grating shriek that was nothing like the delicate giggles from before.

''Of course not, Master. That would be meddling with another contract, and if I just did it all willy-nilly then I could be accused of lying.''

It jumped onto his chest, light and fluffy, looking like everything was alright in the world. Sadly, he didn't understand. What contract was it talking about?

He asked it so, and it cocked its head in a very bird-like way.

''The contract I have with every living thing. I sell you life and you pay me with death. That's how it's always been, and how it always will be.''

It ruffled its feathers, and the glistening plumage fell off, leaving behind a tiny skeleton.

''You call me Death,'' it said as it hopped around on his death-bed, ''but that isn't true. Death is my payment, and I suppose you could call me Trader. But that doesn't sound so catchy, so I guess I'll remain Death.''

''The bar-ar-gain?'' he squeezed out through his drowning lungs.

''Oh, right.''

The little skeleton shivered and morphed into a feather covered miniature owl, and then after a second of consideration into a common sparrow.

''I followed you everywhere from the moment you became my Master. I sat on your shoulder in the guise of a sparrow, giving you counsel when you had a difficult choice to make. You have to choose once more, but this time you will get no help from me, for I am the one making you choose. So take a pick Master, do you want to live, or do you want to die?''

It sounded so simple presented like that, but he knew it was far from easy.

''If I li-ive?''

''Then I take your health, and I take your heart, and you will long for death for the rest of your life. But you will get to see your loved ones, and isn't that what every mortal wants?''

Well that just made it easy.

''No.'' he said, and it felt like someone had suddenly cut all the strings holding him to his body, and he felt free for the first time since he stepped out of Hogwarts.

His daughter, his lovely Lily, was crying her heart out, but he didn't have any regrets about not choosing to live.

Death was sitting on his shoulder in the form of a raven this time, and he smiled at it softly.

''You're a crafty little bugger, you know?''

It preened under his compliment, and gently bit his ear.

''You're going the wrong way, Master. We have to follow the Sun to reach the Water.''

He merely turned to the other direction, turning his back to Lily, and went on his next great adventure.

**Reviews would be welcomed.**


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